Confession: although I am a creative person, I am not what one might call an artist. As a child, I loved to paint but couldn't complete anything larger than 8" x 10" because I lost interest before it was finished. For years, when asked what she wanted for Mother's Day, my mom would reply "For you to finish that painting..."-- the painting in question being one I started circa 1991 of a section of our garden that's long gone. Rather than see my size limitations as an artistic deficiency, I have decided to embrace them. Long live tiny doodles! Three cheers for wee watercolors! After all, sketches can be beautiful. If you read textile designer John Robshaw's blog, he often illustrates his travel posts with pen and ink sketches that are marvelously loose and vibrant. A sketch, in its best form, captures a spontaneous moment with no regard to being "right" or "good enough". Sketches are the handwriting of art-- infinitely personal and telling of the hand that drew them.

With this in mind, I have embarked upon a new project. I am challenging myself to one sketch a day for a month, with no expectations of quality or realism. The only requirement is that my pen touches the paper at least once a day. Since I'm already confessing, I will admit that I've missed a few days so far; I usually sketch on my train ride to work in the morning, and occasionally, I choose to read my book instead of draw. I'm human, and the book was really juicy. But it's also been startling to realize how much more creative I feel when I am following through with my sketches-- one often leads to another, which leads to this idea, which leads to that idea...

So, in the name of accountability, I present to you the Daily Sketch Project. Here's a smattering of the first week (is it terrible that I waited three weeks to show these to you?? I was afraid I would blast it all over the Internet and then flake out and stop. It might still happen, you never know. But at least now you can hold me to it, right?). They're not gorgeous. The one of Mr. Whitey Ford (aka Fudgie) in particular is certainly no crowing achievement-- he looks more like a cartoon lion than a cat... but I get credit for attempting to draw an animal. Anything with a face is extra challenging in my book.

Here at the Punchbowl, I believe that design, like our favorite libation, isn't a one-ingredient recipe; rather, the mixing of the fun, the functional, and the aesthetically pleasing makes for an experience that brings us together and adds value to our everyday lives. So grab your cup and dive in!